The Right Direction
by walutahanga
Summary: Conner finds out something interesting about ranger romance. Couples are pretty much what you'd find on the show.


**The Right Direction**

**Disclaimer: **Power Rangers is not, has never been and will never be mine.

This little fic came from my obsession with only using canon characters (I hate original characters- mostly because I'm no good at them, and they all end up as mary sues, grr). Since that limits my options of potential couples, I had to come up with a reason for why they all seem to find their 'one' during their rangering days. Yeah, yeah, i know. obsessive much...

"Aw, dude!"

Tommy looked up from the computer at Conner' frustrated exclamation. The red ranger was seated on the lounge in the dino-lair, bent over his geography essay, clutching his hair in frustration.

Tommy fought the urge to laugh. Right now, Conner reminded him of Jason or himself, studying for an exam. Except that they would have said something like 'Aw, man!'

"What's the problem now, Conner?" He said.

"What's the difference between Pangaea and Laurasia?"

"Laurasia was the northern portion of Pangaea, and consisted of what we now know as North America, Europe, and Asia."

"Thanks, dude." Conner scribbled in his book. "I guess there _are_ advantages to hanging out with our teacher."

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that," Tommy said, adding automatically; "And don't call me 'dude.'"

It had become a ritual now. There was a certain rhythm to it. Conner would call him 'dude' and he would tell him not to call him 'dude.' Ethan would add that nobody said 'dude' anymore, and Kira would break it up with a well-timed sarcastic remark. Trent would snicker in the background, knowing that the argument kept everyone's attention away from the way his hand 'casually' rested on Kira's knee.

It felt quite empty, actually, without the others here. Kira and Trent were at the movies, whilst Ethan was serving detention with Randall for hacking into the sprinkler system – again.

Tommy shot a narrow look at Conner, suddenly realizing how odd it was that he was the only one here.

"What are you doing here anyway?" He said. "Can't you do that at home or Cyberspace?"

"Mum's holding a tupperware party. Me, Dad, and Eric try to get out of the house before then."

"Ah." Tommy wondered if he shouldn't be grateful that he'd never married. "And what about Cyberspace?"

"Haley leased it out to a bunch of tree-huggers so they could plan their next attempt at saving the whales or whatever."

"I'm sure they'd keep it down."

"Yeah…but Krista will be there."

"So?"

Conner blushed.

"So she's a little…distracting," he admitted. "I can't concentrate when she's there."

"Ah, well, the Power will do that to you."

Conner turned curious eyes on his teacher.

"What?"

Cursing himself for his big mouth, Tommy tried to shrug nonchalantly.

"Oh nothing."

"No, seriously. What did you mean? What's the Power got to do with Krista?"

Tommy sighed and ran his fingers thorugh his short, spiky hair.

"It really is nothing," he said. "Just a hypothesis."

Conner tugged a chair forward, eyes intent on Tommy, a stubborn look about his mouth. He wasn't going to be put off so easily.

Finally Tommy caved.

"Well…I was talking with some old friends once."

Old friends. _Ri-ight_. Conner snorted inwardly. Tommy meant other rangers, obviously. But even now the man used casual half-truths; little hints to lead a person towards believing one thing while doing another, spinning a tapestry of deception as easily as breathing. But that must be what ten years of secrets did to a guy. Mystery became a second skin.

"One of us happened to mention troubles a member of his team was having in the romantic department. We got to talking about the various romances within the teams. That was when we noticed it."

"_It_?"

"How rangers always seem to marry other rangers, or people they've met whilst they were rangers. It's like the Power…guides you to finding the right person."

"The Power is like an intergalactic match-making service?"

Conner's face must have been priceless, because Tommy laughed out loud.

"I hadn't thought of it that way, but yeah."

Conner nodded speculatively.

"So…me and Kirsta…"

"Not guaranteed," Tommy said quickly. "One of my oldest friends was a real lady killer. Whilst he was in uniform, he must have had about five different girl-friends."

"So it doesn't help you find the One?"

Tommy was silent for a moment.

"Honestly, Conner, I don't think there is such a thing as the One. I mean, people change. The person who's right for you at one point in your life might not be right for you later on."

"Speaking from personal experience here?"

The moment the remark was out of his mouth, Conner wanted to take it back. Dr O never liked to talk about his personal life.

The red ranger tried to change the subject.

"So the Power just…points you in the right direction? You still have to do the legwork?"

"Exactly."

Conner thought about it. He _had_ noticed a difference in the way he thought about girls. Whereas before he'd been like a heat seeking missile, homing in on the hottest babes, now they seemed to slip past his radar. He noticed them, he just didn't _notice_ them.

Until Krista.

It had been like a punch to the gut. Suddenly the targetting systems were back on line and working overtime. She was fascinating and irresistable in a way no other girl had ever been. Where before he'd taken a laidback approach to dating – you fall out with one, meh, there were plenty more lined up – now he was the one doing the chasing. She eluded him, tantalizing him, enjoying the chase as much as he did, until he wondered whether he was the hunter, or a fat deer being lured into a trap.

He thought of something else.

"Ethan and Cassidy?"

Dr O. looked sad for a moment.

"The Power isn't foolproof," he said. "Maybe it was for real. Maybe it wasn't. Who can tell? One of my friends fell for a woman who was trying to kill him."

"Dude!" Conner laughed. "Spell, right?"

"Nope, just a gorgeous body and a lot of frustrated hormones."

Conner laughed again, until he thought of Kira and Trent. Those two were seriously digging on each other. Always flirting on the border between friendship and Something More.

As for himself…

He'd felt something for Kira. Not the intense 'soccor-ball-to-the-head' sensation with Krista, but definietly something more than friendship. He supposed if it weren't for Trent, he would have taken his chances with the spunky yellow ranger.

Hey – there was thought. A relationship within the team would be less complicated than with an outsider. No need to make lame excuses for running out in the middle of dinner, or out of a movie theatre.

"What are you thinking about?" Dr O. asked.

"I guess…Kira and Trent are going to be together, aren't they?"

"How do you feel about that?"

"I dunno…as if I missed out on something?"

"But no loss of appetite, no writing really bad poetry in the middle of the night, no urges to go one-on-one with Mesagog?"

"No."

"Then you'll be fine."

Conner gave him a startled look.

"Hey, wait. Don't tell that's what you did when you got dumped!"

Tommy looked embarrassed.

"Drop it, Conner," he said in his best 'teacher's voice.'

"No way. I wanna hear about this!"

"Trust me, you're not going to. Now why don't you get started on that essay?"

"Aw, dude…"


End file.
